Month: March 2016

Iraq: The Return

In 2003 the US made a grievous mistake……it invaded then occupied Iraq….but Obama had to pull troops out because a “status of forces” would not be allowed by the Iraqi government…..but we cannot return to a place that we never left.  Kinda like claiming to discover a place where people already live.

The war on ISIS is going well, according to the Pentagon,  ISIS is on the run….that is good news….but if true why would the US need to redeploy more troops to Iraq?

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford told reporters today that the US will be sending a significant number of new combat troops to Iraq in the weeks to come, saying a series of recommendations have been drawn up, and it’s just a question of exactly which is approved.

This will mark the latest in a series of US escalations in Iraq, which have put the US far above the 3,870 soldier limit they negotiated with Iraq. Pentagon officials concede the number of troops in Iraq is closer to 5,000 now, though the exact figure is not being disclosed.

Pentagon officials insist that they don’t count “temporary troops” in their official numbers, which often means the figures they report publicly are underreported by as many as 1,000 troops at any given time. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi has been under growing pressure from important Shi’ite figures to keep the US role limited.

Special ops troops were temporary assignments……I am sorry but that is pure manure!  Seriously?  If you are being shot at what you call your deployment matters not.

The Pentagon seems to be in a never-ending scramble to add more troops, sometimes only a few dozen at a time, sometimes a few hundred. Sending relatively small numbers each time has kept the individual deployments sparsely covered in the US press, and this avoids significant debate over the transition from a “no boots on the ground” (Dammit1  Stop! using this term the troops are humans and do not demean them or de-humanize them) war toward one in which thousands of US troops are at or near the front lines.

I Love The “Deep Thinkers” On The Right

Unfortunately these days one can make up a conspiracy about anything and it will fly, at least on some blogs…..but this election has even normally rational people thinking the most outlandish situations……I mean really?  Indoctrination camps?  Or maybe those secret terrorists hiding in political rallies?  And the pathetic lists go on and on and on and……….

I found a few of the week’s most idiotic babbling by those insects on the Right…..list compiled by Right wing Watch……

While callstoleaveAmerica in response to the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision were not very successful, at least one former Republican congressman now thinks it may be time to flee the country if Clinton is elected president.

Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican who served two nonconsecutive terms in the House before losing a primary challenge to Sen. John Cornyn, told “Trunews” host Rick Wiles and gun activist Larry Pratt this week that he may move to Panama, fearing that a Clinton presidency would open the U.S. up to deadly attacks.

Really I will chip in for the ticket if it will mean losing one more Tea Party mental “giant”……

Glenn Beck has told his viewers for years that a massive economic collapse is imminent and that they should buy gold and silver, preferably from the shady businesses advertising on his show, to prepare for the economic breakdown.

The right-wing pundit once again predicted an economic unraveling this week, saying that “an economic collapse of biblical proportions is coming to the West.” Beck, like any good doomsday prophet, neglected to say how or when such a collapse would occur. But if and when it does take place, Beck will say he was right all along.

There is a reliable source…..I believe he predicts this type a thing every week……well he will be right ….eventually….then God help us.

Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign tapped anti-Muslim conspiracy theorists Frank Gaffney and Clare Lopez, both with the Center for Security Policy, to advise the Texas Republican on national security issues.

Perhaps now Cruz will address what Gaffney and Lopez believe is the very real prospect of a violent insurrection led by activists with Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street and the Muslim Brotherhood.

I am sure that there is someone reading this screamin’….YES!  YES!  YES!  But sports fans…it is pure4 bullsh*t!

As usual there will be one, possibly more, religious types that are predicting doom and gloom about prayer…..

Televangelist Jim Bakker is very upset about the War on Christmas and the supposed persecution of Christians in America.

Indeed, not only did Bakker this week equate alleged anti-Christian sentiment in the U.S. to the violent oppression of Christians in parts of the Mideast, but he also predicted that the U.S. government will “mow down” Christians who dare to pray at graduation ceremonies.

Seriously?  Is there any sane religious types left?  Or are we left with the babbling buffoons of Babylon?

Stick around….I am positive that these are not the last we will hear from these mental midgets……

The Discomfort of Thoughtful Politics

I remember the days of JFK….I was too young to vote but I listened to his words they made my think about a better future….they were inspirational.  I was too young to vote but my interests in politics was starting to lead me to my later station in life.

Too many people these days refuse to have a conversation….they have formulated a scenario in their minds and they will not look to see if they are accurate or not…..as long as it confirms their beliefs and prejudices then it MUST be true.

I read an article that covers the subject of political thought…..a pretty good piece of writing…..

Quote of the Week:  Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. -John F. Kennedy

The next time you hear an opponent – even one with the obvious logical and factual flaws of Trump – argue their side, check your own motivations to dismiss them, and your own factual basis.  And the next time you hear someone on your side present their stump speech, check your motivations to agree, and the factual basis of your own argument.  Then re-check them.  Then do it again.  Think about why your politics are “better” than those of someone else; and think about why your opponents may also have a legitimate viewpoint worthy of consideration.

Source: The Discomfort of Thoughtful Politics – Spark!

I miss the days when we could have a conversation on different subjects…..today it is just regurgitation of what we want the world to be…..where everyone is wrong (insults included) if they do not agree…..

That is sad and a bit pathetic.

Shall We Pray?

Another Sunday, another day of rest away from the keyboard and research…..and since it is a Sunday I thought why not do something along the religious line?

First, let me say….Happy Easter….if you are the religious type…..

Historians have found an old Bible that has notes in it and it calls into questions some of the beliefs we have about the Reformation…..

The scribbles sat hidden for nearly 500 years. Then, while perusing one of seven surviving copies of England’s first printed Bible, historian Eyal Poleg of Queen Mary University made a surprising discovery. “At empty spaces at the end of prologues and sections, or at blank margins, a very thick paper was carefully pasted,” Poleg writes in a blog post. With the help of 3D X-rays, researchers found that the paper was hiding annotations in the 1535 book. The notes were written in English, but they were “apparently there to point readers to Latin texts of Bible readings to use in services, indicating one way parishes were attempting to get around King Henry VIII’s ban on Latin in the liturgy,” reports Christian Today. And that suggests a new insight about the Protestant Reformation—that it did not upend Europe “in one fell swoop” as has long been thought, notes RedOrbit.

“Until recently, it was widely assumed that the Reformation caused a complete break, a Rubicon moment when people stopped being Catholics and accepted Protestantism, rejected saints, and replaced Latin with English,” Poleg says. “This Bible is a unique witness to a time when the conservative Latin and the reformist English were used together, showing that the Reformation was a slow, complex, and gradual process.” The notes, obscured in 1600, were written during the “murky period” between 1539 and 1549 when Henry VIII was moving away from the Church of Rome but people apparently hadn’t fully accepted the shift, according to a release. Just a few years later, “Latin liturgy was irrelevant,” Poleg adds, and the Bible became a “recorder of thievery.” Hidden on a back page was a transaction between a man and a pickpocket who was hanged in 1552. (This “Wicked Bible” came a century later.)

May I have an AMEN?

Now go and enjoy the rest of your weekend….do something FUN!

Through The Sands Of Time

I begin my weekend with good coffee, time with my lady and a good breakfast and look forward to a couple of days without the total BS of an election……

My regulars will know that I do enjoy history and international stuff and today’s post fills both of those desires.

Since I was very young and saw the original Mummy I have been interested in Egyptian history….and it became more pronounce when working in the Middle East and North Africa I got to visit historical sites in Egypt….Giza, Luxor, Karnak among others……you cannot imagine the awe one feels standing at the base of the Great Pyramid or at the Step Pyramid…….the national museum in Cairo is a place of wonder and awe also…..and there is where I am going with this post…..

There is a new museum slated to open soon on the Plain of Giza…….

When visitors arrive at the Grand Egyptian Museum—to open near the Giza pyramids in 2018—they’ll be greeted by a 4-ton statue of King Amenhotep seated beside the Egyptian god Ra. But first, the 3,500-year-old pink granite statue will be restored, having just traveled 400 miles from Luxor, reports NBC News. Carefully secured by the Tourism and Antiquities Police, the statue rediscovered in southern Egypt in 2009 was one of 780 Egyptian artifacts to arrive at the museum recently in special humidity-controlled trucks, per Ahram Online. They’ll become part of a collection that will number 50,000 pieces, more than half of which have never been seen by the public before.

Clay pots, painted sarcophagi, and limestone blocks inscribed with hierogylphics are just some of the items hand-picked by General Director Tarek Tawfiq, per Ahram Online. Every piece will be arranged in its original context. “You will be transferred to ancient Egypt and you will have an enjoyable experience through real authentic pieces,” Tawfiq says. The Grand Staircase alone will be a spectacle. It will showcase 100 artifacts representing kingship, including the statue of King Amenhotep, a granite column from the temple of King Sahure in Saqqara, and two black granite statues of the lioness war deity Sekhmet from Luxor, reports Ahram Online. (Egypt is now celebrating this incredible discovery.)

I am old and will not get to see this amazing site but maybe my granddaughter will get the chance.

As long as we are talking about history there has been a development in Syria…….

Syrian government forces backed by Russian airstrikes pushed Thursday into the ancient town of Palmyra, which has been held by the Islamic State group since May, state TV reported. The advance came after the troops managed this week to capture several hills and high ground around the town, famed for its priceless archaeological site and Roman ruins, reports the AP. The state TV broadcast footage of its reporter, embedded with the Syrian military, speaking live from the entrance of Palmyra and saying that as of midday Thursday, the fighting was concentrated near the archaeological site on the southwestern edge of the town.

Recapturing the town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, would be a significant victory for Syria’s army and its Russian allies. Russia withdrew most of its forces and aircraft from Syria last week after a monthslong bombing campaign that succeeded in turning the tide of the war again in President Bashar Assad’s favor. Earlier in the day, Gov. Talal Barazi said from the nearby city of Homs that the Syrian army has determined three directions to storm Palmyra and was clearing all roads leading into the town of mines and explosives. “We might witness in the next 48 hours an overwhelming victory in Palmyra,” he said. (ISIS already has destroyed archaeological treasures in Palmyra.)

Sadly we will never be able to repair the damage the pigs in ISIS has done to this historical site….but at least we can punish the bastards for what they have done.

Europe Is Overwhelmed

The latest attacks in Brussels has started the regurgitation of crap all over again and since it is an election year it is as vile and ignorant as ever.

Of course there will be the fear mongering of all those bad guys walking down your street chopping off heads….or maybe it is all the terrorists that are hiding among the refugees….or that there are 1 million “jihadist” hiding just around the corner.

I am not saying that there is no problem…..only that the feeding of irrational fear is not a good technique to counter the despicable acts these guys are capable of doing.

Let’s go back to Belgium……the perps in the attacks were known to the Belgian authorities but they were still able to carry out their idiot plan….and some are asking how this could be….

“Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium all need to be concerned,” says one terrorism researcher.

Source: No One Knows Just How Big Europe’s Jihadi Problem Really Is | Mother Jones

This recent attack was a rude awakening for the authorities……Belgian and European authorities knew this day was coming and they couldn’t stop it. Beyond the loss of life, that is the most troubling aspect of today’s bombings.

Europe’s counterterrorism defenses have cracked because there are simply too many threats to track. An unnamed Belgian counterterrorism official made a similar point during a recent interview with BuzzFeed News. Citing this official, BuzzFeed reported that “virtually every police detective and military intelligence officer in [Belgium] was focused on international jihadi investigations.”

Funny that back in January of 2016 Europe set up a massive agency to cover the region with a counterterrorism machine…..

European Union member states are pooling together resources to fight terrorism in light of the threat posed by the terrorist group ISIS in a plan announced Monday by Europol, the EU’s law-enforcement agency.

The newly formed European Counter Terrorism Centre was created in response to the terrorist attacks in Paris in November.

Counterterrorism authorities in Europe faced criticism after the Paris attacks because those responsible were reportedly able to travel to Europe from Syria, where they received training from hardened jihadis. As the continent struggles to deal with a massive refugee crisis, border security within Europe has been called into question. Some of the attackers had known links to terrorism but were still able to move between borders in Europe.

The European Counter Terrorism Centre aims to improve information sharing between member countries.

“Our ambition is for the European Counter Terrorism Centre to become a central information hub in the fight against terrorism in the EU, providing analysis for ongoing investigations and contributing to a coordinated reaction in the event of major terrorist attacks,” Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol, said in a statement.

Apparently that idea was not the answer to trying to control terrorist attacks.

But did the Belgian authorities do everything they could to prevent these types of attacks?

A long list of blunders and missed opportunities by Belgian intelligence services in the run-up to the Brussels attacks has raised urgent questions across Europe about whether they could have prevented the carnage. The suicide bombers repeatedly slipped through the fingers of Belgian authorities — with one of them remaining free to attack despite having been deported by Turkey as a jihadist just months earlier.

Source: Belgian security forces under scrutiny after Brussels attacks – Yahoo News

The Belgian government is admitting their failures in this incident……

In the aftermath of the Brussels attack, top Belgian officials have admitted that they could have done more to prevent it—including paying attention when Turkey deported Ibrahim El Bakraoui to the European Union and warned that he was a dangerous militant. Authorities have now disclosed that his brother, Khalid El Bakraoui, was being sought in connection with last year’s Paris attack, reports the New York Times. Both brothers became suicide bombers on Tuesday, and the intelligence failures have prompted what the Guardian calls “soul searching” in Belgium, which has been criticized by some of its European allies for what one French minister called a “lack of will” in dealing with Islamic extremists.

Belgium’s justice and interior ministers have offered to resign over the intelligence failures, but Prime Minister Charles Michel has refused to accept the resignations. Sources tell Reuters that the brothers were on a US watch list, and it’s not clear whether American authorities shared information on them with their European Union counterparts. The Wall Street Journal reports that while Belgium has come under fire for failures, the EU as a whole has been struggling to implement intelligence-sharing plans, with an initiative to track potential terrorists traveling by air held up by European Parliament concerns about privacy. Six suspects were arrested in Brussels Thursday night, along with a man in France who was allegedly planning a fresh attack.

None of this will solve the problem…..a major re-write of the plan is needed and not just in Belgium.

The conviction of Radovan Karadzic

The “Butcher Of Bosnia” has finally received his just desserts.

With all the death that this man brought only illustrates the things that coukld happen in Syria as well as Bosnia……

Thursday saw the closure of a long and drawn out story for the victims of Bosnia’s bloody civil war as the guilty verdict was finally delivered in the trial of Radovan Karadzic. The former leader of the Bosnian Serbs presided over some of the worst atrocities committed during the four years of violence that tore apart the multi-ethnic Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

“His judgement is symbolically powerful – above all for the victims of the crimes committed during the wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and across the former Yugoslavia, but also for victims across the world,” UN Human Rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein said in a statement, following the conviction and announcement of a 40-year jail sentence for Karadzic for genocide and war crimes.

Source: The conviction of Radovan Karadzic has lessons for Syria’s war | Middle East Eye

Time to take the TRASH out!

As always there are lessons to be learned from history….that is if one takes the time to see what is happening and why.  These days….that is a tall order.

The Myth of the Reagan Democrat

I am an old fart so I can remember the 1980 election when it was Carter versus Reagan……I also can recall some of the dirty tricks and some of the media slogans that accompanied the election……it was a vote for either a true statesman and a movie star hardliner that worked closely with HUAC to “uncover” Commies in Hollywood….

But the election was about Carter….all the events that took place under his guidance of the country…..the hostage thing was the most pronounced….but there were economics involved and of course the ever present energy crisis….back in those days the media had to explain the popularity of Reagan and his eventual win and in doing so they came up with the term “Reagan Democrats”…..

The easiest definition of a Reagan Democrat…….A media term referring to blue collar voters who are thought to vote for Democratic presidential candidates but who actually vote for Republicans due to their conservative social views.

The problem is that the media has never let the term die a natural death…..every election they attempt to resurrect the term to explain a candidates popularity…..but is the situation as simple as the MSM wants it to be?

Of course it is not as simple as the media would like it to be….and in most cases there is NO validity to the claim…….

Reagan Democrats originally described blue collar white men who left their traditional allegiance to the Democratic Party to back Reagan over Democrat Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election. The phenomenon was vastly overstated from the start, as many blue collar Democrats began voting Republican in presidential elections in 1968 when they backed Richard Nixon. These so-called Reagan Democrats supported Nixon again in 1972, and were Democrats in registration only by the time of Reagan’s 1980 election.

Source: The Myth of the Reagan Democrat – LA Progressive

Blue Dog Democrats were these same voters but since they voted for Bill Clinton a new term had to be found….it was Dems voting for Dems……and then in 2010 the Blue Dogs lost their butts in the mid-term and the media needed to find a way to explain it…..so re-enter the term “Reagan Democrats”……

The term is still in use today by the pundits in the MSM……

It is as silly now as it was in 1980……

Next time you are listening to the media analyze the vote….listen closely and you will find the “Reagan Democrats” are back……

Here’s another thought to keep in your mind……

Clinton’s the only candidate left who holds faith with the platform that’s guided the U.S. since WWII: classic liberal interventionism, more familiar as the globocop policy that fueled both Bush presidencies.

Source: Hillary Clinton Trumps the Republicans on Foreign Policy – Haaretz – Israeli News Source Haaretz.com

It seems that Clinton is the only Republican left in the election race of 2016……

US Intel Vets Warn Against Torture

Back in the days, few years back, when we were having the conversation about torture, I, as usual, had something to say……my post was short and sweet…..

“Try it, then we will talk”!

But once again the subject of torture has returned.  A few of the candidates think that it is thee answer to solving the problem of terrorism.

The veterans of the intel services have something to say about the subject……..

To those living “outside the Beltway” it may seem counterintuitive that those of us whose analysis has been correct on key issues that the U.S. government got criminally wrong – like the invasion of Iraq in 2003 – would be blacklisted from “mainstream” media and ostracized by the Smart People of the Establishment. But, alas, that’s the way it is.

Forget the continuing carnage in which hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions made refugees. Within the mainstream U.S. media and around Washington’s major policy circles, there is little serious dialogue, much less debate about what went so hideously wrong; and Americans still innocently wonder – regarding the people on the receiving end of the blunderbuss violence – “why they hate us.”

Source: US Intel Vets Warn Against Torture « Antiwar.com Blog

Sorry to say….but if you have not been tortured then you opinion is not valid…..again I say…..

“Try it, then we will talk”!